Plastic heel guard



D 8, 1953 E. LINDNER EIAL 2,661,549

PLASTIC HEEL GUARD Filed Sept. 1'7, 1951 film/TOR. (5mm ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 oar-"ice PIIQAFSITIG-HEEL e ARn.

,Lindnerland Mist; Muller, Philadelphia CY Application September 1951, Serial N 0. M6 930 1 Claim. (01. .31 ss Our. invention relates to v a new and useful plasticheel guard and hasj or oneof its o to gprovide'a'heel'guard' that a shoe; without'the' use of Tfaste w n-r tain?fi fiit' tita and will prevent chafing undue wear on the hosiery.

Another object of our invention is to construct a hfelfguard to be placed' in' as hoe prised ofplastic counterhaving some 'resiliency while being sufiiciently stiff to retain its form, and a plastic heel tread connected with the counter through the medium of a fabric binder of unique formation.

Another object of this invention is to produce a heel guard including a counter and a heel tread having smooth and lustrous surfaces so that no protuberances are present which might cause chafing of a persons heel or wear on the hosiery.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heel guard in which the counter is shaped to provide an outwardly projecting bulge at the rear to correspond to the shape of a persons heel and a guide lip at the upper edge whereby a persons foot may be readily and easily slipped into the shoe equipped with such a guard.

Another object of our invention is to provide the outer surface of the fabric binder with a coating of rubber composition to repel moisture and provide a slight frictional resistance between the guard and the shoe in which it is mounted.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same we will describe its construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a plastic heel guard constructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a face view of the blank for the guard counter.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the counter.

Fig. 5 is a face view of the fabric binder blank.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the plastic tread.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the tread panel imposed on the binder and prior to the tabs being turned up.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a shoe with a guard therein also in section.

lncarr ns ut ourli v i n Q LQIQQEW? od ed. tr re nt fab i i d fashi n d 19.; ud he sad pa tionfl f th .8 alshape of the bottornof a persons heel witha p n un e 's a lqped ed t form tat l ter; ndi rom t e ea par als an? .iha de et. i e h d e ea the deified ine 129 nd. ther ar sein at --Tl i 2 are 29a: e l u red an suitci at y. s ac d a a t. 4 91 tha t ey, will not a a ice a d a H turned u substant al y. ..Pi ..9. pad portion ll of the binder l0.

The exterior surface of the fabric binder, that is the underneath surface of the heel pad portion and the outside surfaces of the tabs as shown in Fig. 1 is coated with a rubber composition represented by the stippling [3, Fig. 1.

A heel tread I4 is produced from a sheet of plastic to provide smooth and lustrous surfaces. This heel tread is substantially the same shape as the bottom of a persons heel and of a size to fit the heel pad portion ll of the binder [0 within the scalloped edge or tabs l2. Said heel tread I4 is superimposed upon the upper or interior surface of the heel pad portion of the binder and pasted in place by a suitable adhesive l5, represented by the stippling in Figs. 5 and 7.

A guard counter I6 is produced from a sheet of plastic to provide smooth and lustrous surfaces and of sufficient stiffness to retain its shape. It is first blanked out as a substantially semicircular panel ll, Fig. 3, with the corners rounded as at I8. The blank is then bowed to the shape of the rear periphery of the heel tread l4 and has an outwardly bulged area ill at the rear finally blending into an outwardly canted guide'lip 20 at the upper rear edge and extending for a considerable distance around the inclined sides but terminating short of the base.

At a suitable period during the construction of the heel guard, the tabs l2 are turned or bent upwardly, Fig. 1, and the guard counter I6 is positioned to rest on top of the heel tread [4 contiguous the edge thereof with the rounded corners l B adjacent the forward edges of the forward tabs and pasted thereto by the adhesive l5 thus completing the heel guard as a unitary article. 7

The heel guard is inserted in the heel portion of a shoe 2 I, as shown in Fig. 8, and the rubber coated surface contacts the inside of the shoe walls and has a tendency to retain the heel guard in place but is free to move about until it assumes a proper fit within the shoe. Because of the smooth and lustrous surfaces facing the wearers heel or stocking chafing or undue wear will be prevented.

The heel guards are produced in various sizes to fit mens, womens and children's shoes and the number of tabs l2 may be varied as desired, it having been discovered that a less number than herein shown may be employed in the larger sized guards.

Of course we do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention what we claim as new and useful is:

A heel guard, to be inserted in a shoe, consisting of a fabric binder including a heel pad portion of the general shape of the underside of a person's heel and scallop-like tabs upturned from the heel pad portion, a coating of rubber composition on one face thereof, a heel tread of plastic having smooth surfaces and of the same shape as the heel pad portion of said binder, said heel tread being fixed to said heel pad portion by an adhesive composition, and a guard counter produced from a bowed substantially semi-circular panel of plastic having smooth surfaces 'fitted to and resting on the rear portion of the Lheeltread contiguous the edge thereof, said guard 4 counter having forwardly and downwardly inclined upper side edges terminating in rounded lower corners and fixed along the base thereof to the inside surfaces of the tabs by the adhesive on the binder, said guard counter also havin along its upper marginal region an inwardly turned portion merging with an outwardly bulged outer marginal portion, said portions blending near said lower "corners into the guard counter proper, and blending at the upper rear end of said outwardly bulged outer marginal portion into an outwardly projecting canted guide lip around the upper rear edge and upper side edges of said guard counter.

' EDWARD LINDNER.

MARTHA MULLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 19, 1923, 

